Texans use transfers to top Mustangs

Midwestern State guard Jeremy Ford has his three-point shot blocked by Tarleton State defender Avery Patterson during the first half of Wednesday night's game.

Midwestern State head coach Jeff Ray gestures for a jump ball during the first half of Wednesday night's game against Tarleton State.

Midwestern State head coach Jeff Ray argues with an official during the first half of Wednesday evening's game against Tarleton State.

Midwestern State forward Michael Godwin draws a charge from Tarleton State guard Jeffrey Henfield during the first half of Wednesday night's game.

Midwestern State forward Trajinski Grigsby challenges a shot from Tarleton State center Terrence Gamble during the first half of Wednesday night's game.

Avery Patterson started 27 games at NCAA Division I St. John's a year ago.

And in the final two minutes Wednesday night, the 6-4 senior put on a D-I show.

Patterson scored 10 of his game-high 19 points in the final seven minutes to help Tarleton State wipe out a seven-point Midwestern State lead and leave D.L. Ligon Coliseum with a 62-54 Lone Star Conference South Division win over the Mustangs.

It was the ninth straight win for the Texans, now 14-2 overall and 1-0 in the LSC South.

MSU, with its second straight home loss, falls to 8-7 and 0-1.

After Trajinski Grigsby's 3 put the Mustangs on top 46-39 with 8:09 to play, Tarleton outscored them 23-8 and got 18 of its final 23 points from three senior Division I transfers — 10 by Patterson; six by Limar Wilson (Minnesota) and two by Jeffrey Henfield (New Mexico).

"Patterson's 3 in the corner was huge," MSU coach Jeff Ray said of a 3-pointer that got the lead back for the Texans, 54-52, with 3:10 to play. "We were in a zone and had a hand in his face."

On a night when neither team could connect from long range, the senior from Kannapolis, N.C., also knocked down another 3 with 6:09 to play, slicing a six-point lead in half.

Tarleton wasn't much better 4-22 (18.2 percent) with Patterson getting three of those.

The Mustangs had a horrible shooting night, making just 18 of 64 shots (28.1 percent).

"Our effort was fantastic. The kids played hard and played full speed for 40 minutes. We pressed more tonight than we have all year. But we couldn't string anything together and we kept missing open shots that we don't normally miss," Ray said.

‘‘I need to find a way to get this team to finish."

The score was tied five times and the lead changed hands on nine occasions in the first half.

Tarleton led 25-22 at the break, mainly because of a 16-minute double-double by Terrence Gamble.

The 6-11 senior center — who came in averaging 6.7 points and 5.2 rebounds a game — had 13 points and 10 boards at halftime.

Gamble finished as the Texans' second leading scorer with 18 points and top rebounder with 14.

Wilson was also in double figures for Tarleton with 11 points.

MSU had two players in double figures — Richardson with 18 (14 in the second half) and Grigsby with 15. Grigsby and Christopher Reay shared the rebounding lead for the Mustangs with seven each.

Chris Davis, who was leading the LSC in scoring two weeks ago at close to 20 points a game, is now not the leading scorer on his team.

After his lowest scoring output of the season, 5 points, Davis has scored 244 points in 15 games, and Richardson has scored 245.

The Mustangs are back on the home court Saturday night in another LSC South matchup against Texas A&M-Kingsville.

Sports Editor Nick Gholson can be reached by calling (940) 720-3447 or 1-800-627-1646 (ext. 447) before 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Or you can e-mail him at gholsonn(at) timesrecordnews.com.